No charges against Lenny Dykstra in alleged sex assault

Robert Faturechi and Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times

Former professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra's housekeeper accused him of sexual assault, according to law enforcement records, but prosecutors declined to file charges this month citing a lack of evidence.

According to a rejection memo by Los Angeles County prosecutors, the 41-year-old woman alleged that Dykstra forced her to give him oral sex on Saturdays. Prosecutors said they closed the case because of a lack of evidence that the activity was forced.

The woman told investigators that she "needed the job and the money so she went along with the suspect's requests rather than lose her job," according to the memo, and "returned to work in the suspect's home with knowledge that she obtained from the Internet of a claim of sexual assault by another woman."

According to prosecutors, the housekeeper did not report the alleged assaults until after Dykstra failed to pay her $2,000 he owed her. Investigators discovered text messages from the woman to Dykstra demanding the money and asking for her job back.

In an interview with The Times, Dykstra, 47, denied the allegations, saying that the woman was trying to extort money from him to buy drugs.

"If she was assaulted on Saturdays, then I'm a … ballerina dancer on Sundays," Dykstra said. "This is a maid. That's not even worth commenting on, are you kidding me?"

The allegations, from August 2010, are the latest in a series of troubles for Dykstra, the acclaimed former Mets and Phillies outfielder turned self-styled financial guru. Nicknamed "Nails" by baseball fans for his raucous style of play, Dykstra turned to bankruptcy court in 2009 to try to save the furnished estate he had bought from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky for $18.5 million at the very height of the housing market.

As his baseball career wound down, Dykstra gained success as a businessman, first with a luxury carwash in Corona that he dubbed "the Taj Mahal" of carwashes. Dykstra brought his head-first style to Wall Street after teaching himself financial analysis and striking up a friendship with CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer, who hired Dykstra to write a stock-picking column for his influential website, TheStreet.com.

With Cramer's seal of approval, Dykstra's prominence soared. In 2008, he began publishing the Players Club, a glossy financial advice magazine created for professional athletes — but the venture folded as lawsuits from creditors and unpaid business associates began piling up.

In a bankruptcy filing, another former female employee of Dykstra described a lifestyle of alcohol, drugs and prostitutes. Dykstra, she said, maintained a "rotating list" of personal assistant applicants, whom he would seek out on Craigslist and proposition for sex. She sought a restraining order after Dykstra allegedly threatened to fire her if she didn't find him more applicants to interview.

Dykstra declined to address those allegations and accused the employee of stealing thousands in cash and furniture from him.